Feature: Leicester's Cultural Quarter - part
1
The Cultural Quarter - part 2
A major development in the re-birth of the City of Leicester
has been the emergence of the Cultural Quarter. Artsin's editorial office is
based in the Quarter. We take a look at what lies around us.
Textures and images of the Cultural Quarter
The streets and buildings of Leicester's Cultural
Quarter are rich in imagery. Artsin went out with a camera to capture
some of the textures and images from the built environment in the
street outside.
In part 1 we look at the defining projects of the
Quarter. In part 2 we look at some of the smaller venues and businesses that
have sprung up.
CURVE
Photo: Creativity Works.
The centre piece of Leicester's Cultural Quarter
is CURVE, the name given to the new multi-million pound theatre (shown above.)
Designed by internationally renowned
Rafael Viñoly Architects, Curve is the only new Theatre
to be built in Europe in recent times. Opened by HM The Queen in
November 2008, the building was given a prestigious award
by
the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). It cost a staggering £61
to build and fit with the latest state-of-the-art equipment. With a main auditorium
limited to 800 seats, critics saw the new theatre as being too small to
attract many of the larger shows that now go to centres like Birmingham and Nottingham.
Lauded by local councillors as "world class" and "iconic",
many new shows are now coming to the theatre and the audience figures are lookings
good.
See our reviews of shows at
CURVE.
Photo by Richard Brine
Criticised by government watchdog The Audit Commission,
the project ran into trouble when scrutineers found it was £35 million
over budget due to changes being made while the building was going up. Some commentators
said that it is too early judge the success of the project and that only
time would tell if the money spent has been worth it.
Well, we are now seeing that time, with acclaimed shows like
Umbrellas of Cherboug, Romeo and Juliet and the forthcoming Yes Priminister,
The History Boys and West Side Story in this years calendar, the reputation of
the new theatre is growing.
Council leaders see CURVE
as being the flagship of city centre regeneration. The building has attracted
a variety of comments, since its opening, about the choice of shows. Under Artistic
Director, Paul Kerryson, this years season is beginning
to draw more favourable comments and increasing ticket sales. The programme
of shows is planned and delivered by the Leicester Theatre Trust, the body that
operates CURVE.
CURVE stands in the St. George's Conservation
Area and it is the immediate area around the new theatre that is
called the "Cultural Quarter". Streets have been re-paved and decorated
with multi-colored
lights.
The Pheonix Digital Media Centre
The
new digital media centre, not far from CURVE, attracted sceptical comments about
its location. The quality of its facilities and the inventiveness of its programmes
is beginning to pay off. Artsin goes there quite a lot, not just to see films
but to attend events and meetings and whenever we go there it is always busy
with people.
The centre in Morledge Street cost over £21 million
and is a multi-use project including a cinema, work spaces for media businesses
and apartments.
Read our reviews of films at the
Phoenix.
The Athena
Standing right by the side of Curve, is The
Athena Theatre. Converted from the 1938 Odeon Cinema, the Athena bears all the hallmarks of the Odeon Style of the 1930s. The re-vamped venue opened in 2005 and has a capacity of nearly 1,300 and now caters for shows, exhibitions, conferences and dinners.
The Leicester Creative Business Depot
Photo: Nicholas Kane
Not far from Curve and The Athena, is another
new building, The Leicester Creative Business depot. Converted from the entrails
of the Leicester City Bus Depot, the two-block site now offers offices and studios
for arts and creative businesses and organisations. It was in fact the birthplace
of Arts in Leicestershire, when we had a studio there, three years ago (in the
block shown in the above picture.)
Run by the City Council, the complex features rentable
spaces, a cafe, an exhibition hall and meeting rooms. The project proved popular
and nearly all of the units were filled within two years of the opening. The
building houses the Leicester Comedy Festival and the organisers of the Caribbean
Carnival were also based there for a while.
Go to part 2
Websites
One Leicester's article on the regeneration of the city
The Athena Theatre
Curve Theatre
The LCB Depot
Phoenix Square Digital media Centre
